NHL 2K6 360: The Interview

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Producer talks about new features, improvements, and graphics. Exclusive video and screens.

By Jon Robinson

While EA Sports decided to cut features from their Xbox 360 titles, 2K Sports looked at this as an opportunity to take the leadership role. Not only making their games look next-gen, but by delivering the gameplay, framerate, and features fans have come to expect from their elite titles...and delivering all this for launch (yes, NHL is a launch title). In fact, NHL 2K6 for the Xbox 360, isn't just a graphical upgrade of the recently released Xbox version, it includes an innovative new feature called Crease Control, something that was actually the brainchild of cover athlete Marty Turco.

IGN Sports talked to the game's producer, Ben Bishop, to get the scoop on NHL 2K6 for the Xbox 360, including everything from new online features to improved checking.

IGN Sports: A lot of sports games seem to be losing features when making the jump to the Xbox 360. Is that the case with NHL 2K6?

Ben Bishop: I've heard about that, but no, that's a big thing for us. We didn't want you to feel like you're getting less of a game with the Xbox 360. Besides gameplay and all of the main stuff, we included party mode and all of the franchise stuff we already had on the Xbox and PS2. Feature-wise, it's pretty much the same game that you'll find on current-gen systems, but then we've also pumped up the visuals and even added a new feature.

IGN Sports: The new feature is called Crease Control. Can you explain how it works?

Ben Bishop: That's our big new gameplay feature. It's really cool because it was thought up by Marty Turco. We brought him down to Kush Games in Southern California and he got to spend a lot of time with the guys, talking about the game, what he liked and didn't like, and about some new feature ideas we had. One thing for us has always been trying to find a fun way to play as the goalie. You kind of saw the beginnings of that with Maximum Goaltending, but that was just scratching the surface. Using some of the input from Marty, we developed Crease Control for the Xbox 360. He talked a lot about how positioning was so important, so with Crease Control, you click the right stick when the other team has the puck and you shift into a new camera that is looking out from the goalie's point of view. You have this cone to follow to keep your goalie in the right position based on where the puck is and what the other team is doing. And then when they take a shot, you'll see where the shot is coming in on goal and you have a split second to matchup a save ring to try and stop that shot. So if your goalie is out of position, you'll have a lot harder time getting your ring to that point where the shot is. That's the basic idea of how it works.

IGN Sports: What can we expect to see visually from the game?

Ben Bishop: This is what we spent a great amount of time on, trying to give the game that next-gen look and feel. I think what's special about the Xbox 360 is all of the little details we can now throw in to make the total package that much better and more immersive. You'll see things like ice spray a lot more now. If you stop quickly in front of a guy and spray ice on him, the ice will actually stick to his uniform, so you'll see him skating around for a while with ice on his socks and probably on the lower part of his pants. The crowd is totally 3D now and they just look so much more like they're alive and vibrant and a part of the game. You'll not only see them going crazy at the right times, but we have specific reactive pockets. You check a guy against the boards and you'll see the fans in that area flinch or get up and bang the glass. The fans just feel like they're so much more involved.

Reflections on the glass is another big thing we've been able to add. Other games have done this in the past, but it looks so much more realistic now, and so does the ice. The ice is probably one of my favorite things about the game. Skating on the ice and looking down from overhead, you'll see we've added so much more detail, from the scratches to skate trails, and you'll see it wear down realistically over the course of the period and you'll see more powder build up in areas where the players are skating more like in front of the net and in the middle of the ice as opposed to along the boards.

Jumbotrons are part of the experience now. You'll see the score working up on the jumbotron, you'll see cutscenes on the jumbotron, so you can see the view from the fans.

Player models look amazing now. We spent a ton of time just going back over and redoing all of our player heads to give them more detail. Guys with five o'clock shadows have those five o'clock shadows. Guys like Jeremy Roenick really stand out because he has that grizzled veterans looks about him. When he skates by, you're like wow, that's Jeremy Roenick. Guys who are missing their teeth in real life are missing their teeth in the game. We actually have a team of guys who have helped us out in the past with researching online and watching games to figure out who is missing what teeth. That's a big thing for us, to get those little details right.

One thing that's great that we are able to include is Marty Turco's helmet. Usually, we're not able to include the different goalie helmets because of legal reasons, but because he is on the cover, we get to have his actual mask in there. That's something that really gives him that extra dose of personality and makes it feel like it's really Marty Turco out there.

We also added depth of field, which is something you've seen in the NBA game. We have a similar effect in NHL. If there's a particular player that you are focusing on, he really just pops out, while the stuff on the periphery is blurred a little bit and they don't quite stand out as much. That way you can focus on the key action right in the middle.

And the last thing I want to mention about the visuals is that we've not only been able to add the reflections that I talked about, but refractions. If you're looking through the glass from the fans perspective, you'll actually see a little bit of a warbled effect. It looks like you're not looking directly at the guy, but you're looking at him through the glass. We're also able to show through the reflections of the ice the textures of the players skating by, the jumbotron, and even the banners that are hanging around the arena.